On Election Day morning, Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) stopped at a familiar place: his home church, Victory Missionary Baptist Church, in Las Vegas' Historic Westside.
There, at the same place he announced his campaign in July 2025, Ford and his family prayed alongside church leaders and roughly two dozen supporters wearing "Ford for Governor" shirts, calling on their faith for courage and to deliver the Democrat to victory.
Ford was in good spirits, but the prayer's mood was more solemn.
"We ask you, Heavenly Father, to give us unusual strength at this hour. No matter what the numbers say, we know you have a way in your tradition of turning numbers upside down," said the pastor.
None of them knew it, but he was just hours away from being declared the state's next governor.
State and national media outlets called the race for Ford early Wednesday, cementing a comfortable victory over Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) in a blue tsunami of a midterm election.
Lombardo significantly outperformed other statewide Republicans in raw vote count, but it wasn't enough to withstand a nationwide wave. Ad spending likely helped narrow the gap — for every $1 Democrats spent on the governor's race, the GOP spent nearly $2.50. Republicans had a $32.6 million ad-spending advantage overall.
A large part of Ford's victory hinged on anti-GOP sentiment. As Trump's dismal approval ratings have sunk in recent months, voters across the state expressed frustration with the president's administration.
Ford enters office with a mandate. Democrats flipped several Assembly seats and comfortably control both houses of the Legislature. Additionally, the party will hold all six statewide offices for the first time since 1962.
Ford will also make history as not only the first Black governor elected in Nevada but of any state west of the Mississippi River. It's a stirring accomplishment in a state with such a history of pervasive discrimination and segregation in the 20th century that it once held a reputation as the "Mississippi of the West."
"I want to talk about diversity," Ford said Tuesday night. "Nevada's diversity? It's not a challenge to overcome. It's one of the greatest strengths that we have. We're Black, we're white, we're Latino, Asian American, Native American, so much more."
In a concession statement posted Wednesday morning, Lombardo wrote that he'd called Ford to congratulate him and that the state's shared future matters more than political differences.
"As we prepare for a transition in leadership, I hope Nevadans will move forward with a renewed sense of purpose, united by our love for this state and our shared belief in its future," he said. "Nevada's greatest days are still ahead."
Early vibes at election parties attended by The Nevada Independent were drastically different for both candidates and offered insight into what they were thinking about the election's outcome and voters' messages.
Hours before results began to trickle in, attendees at a Democratic watch party in Downtown Las Vegas were already celebrating as if they had won. The room was adorned with Nevada's state flag and blue streamers, reminiscent of a rally that former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) held in the same room nearly half a year ago. This time, it was a different outcome.
As Democratic wins from across the country played on a large screen, people broke into chants, cheers and the occasional song. The Hamilton soundtrack played, looping four times. At one point, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) separately broke into song. "Ain't no party like the Democratic Party," she chanted.
Shortly before the last vote was submitted, Ford told a packed room, "I'm standing with a real chance of becoming governor" — interrupting his own speech with expressions of excitement and glee.
"I can't get to the speech," Ford said, laughing.
The symbolic significance of Ford becoming the first elected Black governor west of the Mississippi River was heavily felt in the room. More than a dozen Black community members stood behind Ford as he spoke, their faces beaming with pride and smiles.
During the campaign, Ford slammed negative campaign ads run by backers of Lombardo criticizing him for out-of-state travel as racist dog whistles that attacked his work ethic and were designed to portray him as lazy and shiftless. Editorials also called out "racist tropes" used in PAC advertisements criticizing Ford on his votes on the board of pardons.
Earlier that night, Tya Mathis-Coleman, the Democratic nominee for treasurer, also made history. She became Nevada's first Black treasurer and first Black woman elected to statewide office.
"I stand before you tonight as the product of Nevada's promise," Mathis-Coleman said.
In Nevada and elsewhere, minority voters fueled unprecedented Democratic wins. In comparison to the 2024 general election, A New York Times analysis found that Black voters in Nevada shifted to the left by 5 percentage points this cycle, while Democrats increased their margins by 25 points with Latino voters. Early voting turnout was also higher than usual for Latino and Asian American Pacific Islanders.
Brendan McGhee, a 62-year-old voter attending the party, said that he anticipated a "blue wave."
He told The Indy that he was upset about Trump's presidency and cuts to Medicare under his administration. He felt the Democratic wins were a natural reaction to the rising cost of living in Nevada and nationwide.
"You can only do so much evil before the pendulum swings to the other side," McGhee said.
The energy at Lombardo's election party — held at the Durango Casino and Resort in Las Vegas — was comparatively subdued, with attendees discussing the increasingly bad results for Republicans with hushed breath and nervous laughter.
Large screens, flanked by American flags, balloons and "Joe Lombardo" posters, broadcast Fox News' coverage of the midterm election returns. Loud boos filled the room as Fox called U.S. Senate races for Democrats.
Lombardo came onstage to thank supporters around 9 p.m., telling the crowd that the early vote returns were likely to look bad for the GOP but that he remained confident he would win.
Still, some signs of doubt about the environment were clear.
"There's a lot of things going on in the world, right, out of our control, and we're doing everything we can to worry about Nevada," he said. Later, he added, "I don't want anybody in this room to have their head down currently."
Attendees who spoke to The Indy said they knew it was a bad night for Republicans but weren't ready yet to give up hope on Lombardo.
But the mood grew bleaker as the night progressed. The room emptied significantly after Lombardo's remarks.
About an hour and a half after he spoke, Dr. Tony Alamo — a longtime friend of Lombardo's and the former chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission — came onstage to announce that the governor wouldn't be speaking again. Alamo also gestured at, without explicitly acknowledging, Republicans' poor performance across the country.
"What you're seeing here today is, you know, evidence of … issues that happen at a national level, that have percolated down to our state level," he said hesitantly.
"We don't have any results. We honestly don't know where this is going to go."
Ford's win, coupled with Democrats' control of the Legislature, gives the party an opportunity to enact their agenda and carry forward longstanding Democratic priorities. Nevada was one of six states where Democrats won full control of state government Tuesday.
Ford campaigned on getting rid of Nevada's long-standing "right-to-work" law, which prohibits labor unions and employers from requiring union membership for employment.
He's also said the state needs to increase education funding to raise per-pupil spending to the national average — roughly $2 billion — but isn't open to adding new taxes.
Some voters expressed concerns about the Democratic trifecta, with Republican James Peters, 38, telling The Nevada Independent on Tuesday that he was voting for Lombardo to ensure a balance of power in the Legislature and keep it from being dominated by Las Vegas interests.
"I don't want us to turn into California … like tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend," he said. "I grew up in Nevada. I think one of the things that's great about it is it's got a bit of an individual liberty type tilt, and I worry about that going away."
But Democrats have emphasized that their agenda is one aimed at improving the situation for all Nevadans.
Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-Las Vegas) told The Indy that Democrats were "excited" and the blue wave reflects that voters wanted "some sort of change."
"Our hearts were broken four years ago, so it's very different to experience this tonight," Doñate said.
